"There was a provision where people could be accommodated against reserved seats. My daughter had scored well, qualified also but could not make it to the list. So she was adjusted against a reserved seat," Justice Eqbal said.

"I didn't go to them seeking a favour. I didn't go to Tatas or JJ Irani. I never met him. There was a provision against which she was adjusted."

On Prasad's complaint, Justice Eqbal said: "This is an attempt to malign me and the CJI is well aware of this. He has rejected this complaint. This is a motivated complaint and the complainant may have been aggrieved by my orders."

When asked about this, Prasad admitted that the single bench of Justice Eqbal had passed "certain adverse remarks" against him in a 1997 writ petition concerning posting of a subordinate doctor to Dhanbad Medical College.

Tata Steel spokesperson Charudatta Deshpande said: "This is an old matter. As far as we can recollect, admission to Ms Sadaf Khan was given at the request of the then Bihar government against the reserved seats in the MGM Medical College."

When contacted, Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said: "This is something I have only heard about but not dealt with or checked. So many such complaints against judges land up with the government but their scrutiny and establishing veracity and the whole process of selection of judges is the exclusive domain of the collegium and not the government or the law ministry."

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